Nidoran♂ Line/RBY
Nidoran♂ is located in Route 22 and the Safari Zone. Nidorino is located in the Safari Zone, and in Blue it can be purchased with 1,200 coins at the Game Corner. Moon Stones are available in Route 2, Mt. Moon, the Rocket Hideout and the Pokémon Mansion. In the maddeningly broken first generation, Nidoran♂ is one of the most useful Pokémon you can use. Whereas a good portion of Pokémon wake up in the morning begging for a useful STAB, Nidoking not only gets amazing STAB Earthquake, but also a myriad of other coverage options. Not only that, but Kanto has the earliest available Moon Stone. Early evolution, insane movepool, tanky stats, pretty decent typing, and of course access to the ever broken Horn Drill make Nidoking the monster that he is. Sure, a weakness to Psychic hurts, but you should already have a Psychic counter anyway. Same goes for Water. Even then, Psychic-types can get wrecked by Earthquake and a good deal of Water-types can get owned by Thunderbolt. So yeah, good game, Kanto! Important Matchups - Yellow = * Rival (Route 22, optional): Just spam Horn Attack until you can take it, then either heal or switch. Spearow's Peck and Eevee's Tackle are both stronger than Horn Attack, but Nidoran may still be able to take out both of them, depending on its level. * Gym #1 - Brock (Pewter City, Rock-type): Double Kick is the way to go! It won't KO in one turn, but it has good chances of doing so in two for Geodude, and maybe three for Onix. Their moves will also deal damage though, so make sure your Nidoran doesn't fall too deep down into the red health bar. This is especially relevant for Onix's Bind. * Rival (Cerulean City): Hit whatever you see with your strongest move, which should be either Double Kick or, if you've already fought Misty, BubbleBeam. If not, Water Gun still works for Sandshrew. * Gym #2 - Misty (Cerulean City, Water-type): Staryu is alright for Nidorino, though somewhat threatening for a Nidoking; Starmie is a no for both. It has high Special and Speed, meaning a high chance of critical hits as well, and Nidoking might fall to a single BubbleBeam too. Avoid fighting her ace. * Rival (S.S. Anne): Same team as the Cerulean City fight, so all you need to do is repeat the same strategy, except you now have Body Slam too, if you opted for teaching that move. The fight will be even easier than the previous. * Gym #3 - Lt. Surge (Vermilion City, Electric-type): The immunity to Thunderbolt is a great addition, but don't underestimate Raichu's Mega Kick, even with Nidoking's very good physical bulk; it could deal a lot of damage if it crits, and Raichu's Speed makes it fairly likely. Other than that, the fight should be easy, and take at most two Horn Attacks. * Rival (Pokémon Tower): Shellder is the only Pokémon you might want to somewhat watch out for, but it's not really scary as it only has Clamp and not that much of a Special, plus Nidoking can be taught Thunderbolt to deal with it. The others are about as easy as ever with Horn Attack or Body Slam support, and even better if Nidoking has BubbleBeam or Ice Beam for Sandshrew. * Giovanni (Rocket Hideout, Ground-type): Spam BubbleBeam or Ice Beam against Onix and Rhyhorn, then use Double Kick or whatever good physical move you have for Persian. Be aware, however, that Persian could cause annoying repeated flinches with Bite. * Gym #4 - Erika (Celadon City, Grass-type): Get the Ice Beam TM from the Celadon Department Store, teach it to Nidoking, spam it in this gym. Profit! * Gym #5 - Koga (Fuchsia City, Poison-type): None of Nidoking's business. All the Pokémon here know Psychic, and even though the first three are "just" Venonat, it's still not a risk worth taking if you can help it. Stay away. * Fighting Dojo (Saffron City, Fighting-type): Hitmonlee's Mega Kick is somewhat scary, but the Fighting resist really plays in Nidoking's favour. If Mega Kick doesn't crit, Nidoking should be able to dispose of both Pokémon without problems. Use a special move here, as their Special is crap. * Rival (Silph Co.): Sandslash is still safe since it has no Ground STAB, so BubbleBeam or Ice Beam it. BubbleBeam also works well for Ninetales and Flareon, though in its absence, a good physical move will also do just fine. Magneton and Jolteon should be easy as pie, if a bit annoying. Don't do Cloyster or Vaporeon as they both have dangerous moves. Lastly, avoid Kadabra at all costs, for obvious reasons. * Giovanni (Silph Co., Ground-type): Surf or Ice Beam for Rhyhorn and Nidoqueen, then any of Nidoking's strong physical moves will do for the other two. This should not be too hard a fight. * Gym #6 - Sabrina (Saffron City, Psychic-type): Heavy X items doping is the only way Nidoking can hope to survive here. With one X Accuracy to negate Flash nerfs, two or three X Speed to be sure to outspeed even Alakazam, and about as many X Attack as you can get, Nidoking can actually solo this gym, but you need no less than just that, and you must set up while Abra is in front, as Kadabra and Alakazam will murder you otherwise. * Gym #7 - Blaine (Cinnabar Island, Fire-type): Surf may do well against Blaine, though his Pokémon all have fairly strong Special, so Nidoking might actually be disadvantaged, also for Speed reasons. In general terms, you will not want it to stay on the battlefield for the whole show, but it should be able to take down a Pokémon or two from Blaine's arsenal; Rapidash is the easiest for this purpose, as it has Fire Spin instead of stronger Fire moves, though Fire Spin will also trap if it hits. Bring heals (not just Burn Heals). * Gym #8 - Giovanni (Viridian City, Ground-type): Don't. Rhydon can be OHKOed with Surf, and Persian is fairly easily manageable despite the permacrit Slash, but the rest is off limits for Nidoking, as it packs STAB Earthquake. * Rival (Route 22, pre-Elite Four): As the fight is similar to the previous one from Silph Co., essentially the same principles apply: the Water-types are to be categorically left alone, the Fire-types are more than manageable now thanks to Earthquake access, the Electric-types are easy as pie for the same reason, Sandslash is fine because it still has no Ground moves and can be grounded by Surf or Ice Beam, and Kadabra is an absolute nope for Nidoking. Exeggcute, the new addition, has no Psychic STAB, so it's alright. * Elite Four Lorelei (Indigo Plateau, Ice-type): Again, no. Too much STAB, too much hurt, too little proper counterattack moves in Nidoking's arsenal. This fight is only a big risk for it, and even Thunderbolt will not go very far with the good Special of Dewgong and Cloyster, not to mention Slowbro. Avoid. * Elite Four Bruno (Indigo Plateau, Fighting-type): Nidoking's resistance comes in handy once again here, as it can dispose of mostly everything on Bruno's team without problems with Earthquake, or Surf for the Onix. Ice Beam also works for the latter. Hitmonchan's Ice Punch is really not a problem, its Special is ridiculous. * Elite Four Agatha (Indigo Plateau, Poison-type): Everything here is fine for Nidoking to fight, with one exception and one precaution: the exception is her ace, the level 60 Gengar, which needs to be avoided due to Psychic; the precaution is about needing to heal Hypnosis-induced sleep right away, as her Haunter has Dream Eater. The rest of the team is just easy as pie. * Elite Four Lance (Indigo Plateau, Dragon-type): Gyarados has Hydro Pump and Dragonite has Blizzard; both of them should be avoided like the plague. One of the Dragonair also has Ice Beam, and there's no telling which is which; however, Nidoking's own Ice Beam is about as powerful against them, so it should not pose a big issue and even in the event you go wrong, Nidoking should take one Ice Beam and survive. Aerodactyl poses a threat in the form of a likely critical Hyper Beam, but is manageable if it does not score that. * Champion Rival (Indigo Plateau): NOW Sandslash has Ground STAB, and that says what Nidoking should do about it (run, of course). Alakazam is the nopest of nopes, even more so after evolution, and neither Cloyster nor Vaporeon are a good idea to fight either. The rest is alright: Exeggutor can fall to repeated Ice Beams and has no Psychic STAB, Ninetales and Flareon should be alright though they could also dent Nidoking considerably with Flamethrower, while Jolteon and Magneton are just plain easy. * Post-Game: No. That's a Mewtwo, for crying out loud. }} Moves Nidoran's level up movepool is somewhat different in Red and Blue, compared to Yellow. In all three games, it starts with Leer and Tackle, and then learns Horn Attack at level 8; it only gets Double Kick in Yellow, however, at level 12. Then, Poison Sting comes at 14 in Red and Blue, and at 17 in Yellow, but as Nidoran; Nidorino will learn it at 19 in the same game. As Nidorino, it learns... almost nothing worthy of interest. Focus Energy comes at 23 in Red and Blue, while it's accessible at 27 in Yellow; in this generation, it's the stupidest move ever, as it reduces the probability of scoring a critical hit to 1/4 of the original instead of increasing it. Never have that move on anything. Fury Attack is learned at 32 in the first two games and at 36 in the last. But for those who wait, patience is finally rewarded with Horn Drill, which comes around at 41 in the originals, and 46 in the third. This move goes by speed in this generation, however; Nidoking is not too fast, but should be able to one-shot enemies easily with just a few levels over them and/or with an X Accuracy. Remember that, however, the X Accuracy will only work if Nidoking outspeeds the other Pokémon, whether naturally or with the aid of X Speeds. And then, at long last, level 50 sports Double Kick for Red and Blue players too, which unlike the level 12 equivalent in Yellow serves absolutely nothing, especially as Nidorino will never stay unevolved for that long. Unless you want to wait for Horn Drill - and however tempting, Nidoking actually has plenty of coverage to compensate for not learning it - Nidorino should be evolved as early as possible. Nidoking learns Thrash naturally at level 23, which may sound broken, but it's actually just dangerous and it has much better options anyway. The main strength of both Nidoran lines, however, is the fantastic TM access that they get in this generation, one that is unlike any other. The special triptych alone covers wonderfully for nearly anything: Ice Beam, Thunderbolt and their more powerful but less accurate alternatives, plus Fire Blast - strangely enough, not Flamethrower - are more than enough to wreck face for a good while even with Nidoking's average Special stat. Surf complements this coverage well too, for Nidoking that are well trained in Special. On the physical side, the only really good options are Earthquake, an obvious must have, and Rock Slide, with Submission being a passable complement, but usually not as good as other moves. Recommended moveset: Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Rock Slide, Earthquake Other Nidoran♂'s stats Nidorino's stats Nidoking's stats * At what point in the game should I be evolved? You should have a Nidorino by Cerulean City, and evolve it into Nidoking as soon as possible. Thus, Nidoking by Cerulean City. Waiting for Horn Drill might sound tempting, but in reality, there's no need to do that: Nidoking already has amazing moves as is. * How good is the Nidoran♂ line in a Nuzlocke? Really, really good. In old Kanto, it shines even more than it otherwise would, because its coverage is absolutely astounding relative to that of its peers. There's nothing quite as versatile as the Nido liners, and they outpace almost every single other line by far in this generation. Nidoran♂'s and Nidorino's type matchups: * Weaknesses: Ground, Psychic, Bug * Resistances: Fighting, Grass, Poison * Immunities: None * Neutralities: Normal, Flying, Ghost, Fire, Dragon, Electric, Rock, Ice, Water Nidoking's type matchups: * Weaknesses: Ground, Psychic, Bug, Ice, Water * Resistances: Fighting, Rock, Poison (x0.25) * Immunities: Electric * Neutralities: Normal, Flying, Ghost, Fire, Dragon, Grass Category:Red/Blue/Yellow Category:List of Evolutionary Lines with Completed Analyses